Canberra’s space satellites
One of Skykraft’s satellites
Canberra is leading the way in the growth of Australia’s space industry. We spoke with Skykraft CEO Dr Michael Frater to hear more about what the company is doing. And we got to see a satellite.
Within walking distance from Canberra’s CBD, just metres from Canberra’s National Convention Centre is a satellite. Yes, a true-blue satellite.
Skykraft is a local and regional success story, with the satellites assembled at UNSW Canberra Launch (located at CIT’s Reid campus) using regional inputs, including metalwork manufactured in Queanbeyan.
Its first satellites have already been shipped for launch in the United States. The five-part payload weighs approximately 300kg. When launched in the next few weeks on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, it will be Australia’s largest-ever satellite. And this is just the start, with more to come as part of a bold three-year vision by Skykraft.
Accidentally at ADFA, expanding UNSW’s Canberra footprint
When we met Dr Michael Frater, he was dressed casually in his company’s corporate uniform – a Skykraft hoodie. But his casual student look masks decades of experience in computer science, engineering, cyber and innovation, and university leadership.
Originally from Sydney, Dr Frater came to Canberra in 1988 to study at the Australian National University (ANU). His early academic background was in computer networking research. However, after graduation, he wanted to stay in Canberra, so he looked for local options.
‘Canberra is a great place to be,’ he said. ‘I’d spent three years here doing a PhD. I was quite happy to stay here.’
He secured work at UNSW Canberra at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) in defence-related research, describing his choice for the university as a bit of an accident. From there, he took the (at that time) unusual step of running short courses. That led to an interest in the commercial aspects of the university, culminating in his ten-year appointment as Rector of UNSW Canberra at ADFA.
As Rector, Dr Frater renegotiated UNSW ADFA’s $1 billion contract to deliver services to the Department of Defence for 20 years. That was a big contract, but that wasn’t all he achieved. He also developed UNSW Launch on Northbourne, an innovative facility on Northbourne Avenue that encourages startup companies, especially in defence and security, by bringing together industry, government and university in a collaborative environment.
‘That’s been a fantastic success for the university and became a really important part of the business case for the new campus to allow UNSW researchers to work with industry at scale,’ he said.
Under Dr Frater’s leadership, UNSW Canberra was expanding its reach into innovation at a time when some other universities were pulling back. ‘There are always tensions in universities around how you deal with innovation,’ said Dr Frater. ‘There are issues of what the university can and can’t do, and there are quite widely differing views around the sector.’
“UNSW, through engaging with industry via UNSW Launch on Northbourne, and being a Foundation Member of the Canberra Innovation Network, has positioned itself really, really well in this town. And others are copying that.”
‘UNSW, through engaging with industry via UNSW Launch on Northbourne, and being a Foundation Member of the Canberra Innovation Network, has positioned itself really, really well in this town. And others are copying that.’
Dr Frater also had a key role in negotiating the agreement with the ACT Government’s through which UNSW will build a new campus on a sites straddling Constitution Avenue. This multi-billion facility will house a new Defence and Security Innovation Precinct and allow UNSW to greatly expand its course offerings in Canberra.
While he had advocated for an expansion of UNSW in Canberra for many years, Dr Frater said the opportunity to develop a campus on this prestige site took him by surprise. ‘This is a site of international significance, on the edge of the national triangle with views of parliament house. It is akin to Kings College London’s campus on the Strand in London overlooking the Thames.’ he said.
Catching the space bug
When Dr Frater became Rector of UNSW Canberra at ADFA, his goal was to bring its research quality into line with the rest of UNSW. ‘In absolute terms, there was nothing wrong with where we were,’ he said. ‘But as part of a university aspiring to be in the top three of the Group of Eight, it wasn’t where we needed to be.’ So he decided UNSW Canberra needed to focus on a smaller number of research areas in which it could excel. Following a review in 2012, two key new areas were identified: cyber security and space.
Dr Frater established Australia’s first multidisciplinary centre focused on cyber security, which provided both teaching and research and anticipated the strong need for cyber security, especially by the government. In that role, he was (and still is) regarded as Canberra’s cyber czar.
He also developed a deep interest in space.
“We set out to change the national agenda on space by saying quite loudly that we were going to put things in orbit.”
Back in 2012, space wasn’t trendy in Australia. There wasn’t much government support, and Australia wasn’t considered a big player. Yet Dr Frater was undaunted. ‘We set out to change the national agenda on space by saying quite loudly that we were going to put things in orbit,’ he said.
Advocacy by UNSW and others led to The Australian Space Agency being established in 2018. That same year, UNSW secured contracts with the Department of Defence that led to the launch of five spacecraft, three of which are still operational.
‘And I guess from that I got the space bug,’ he said. ‘I got interested in doing things at scale and how to bring together innovation with industry and universities.’
Professor Russell Boyce, then at the University of Queensland, was hired to lead UNSW Canberra Space. He built a team around him that founded Skykraft in 2017.
Starting Skykraft
Two of Skykraft’s founders are now in full-time roles with the company: Dr Craig Benson and Dr Doug Griffin, who are Skykraft’s Chief Innovation Officer and Chief Engineer (respectively). Dr Frater knows Dr Craig Benson well, having first met him in 1991 when he was a student in one of Dr Frater’s first classes. Later, Dr Frater supervised his master’s thesis project and his PhD. Cofounder Dr Griffin, an Australian engineer who had worked in senior roles in the UK space industry, was headhunted by UNSW Canberra and returned to Australia as UNSW Canberra Space’s chief engineer.
UNSW at CIT’s Reid Campus
Dr Frater knew Skykraft well, having been involved in the company from its early days of being spun out from UNSW. He had also served on the first Skykraft board. ‘I knew most of the warts’, he said of his decision to accept the CEO role in February 2022.
Skykraft launch a moment in history
Skykraft’s spacecraft, once launched, will provide air traffic management services from space. Skykraft will provide aircraft tracking and communications services over the whole of the earth, not just where ground infrastructure is available. Skykraft’s satellites can also augment or replace much of the ground infrastructure employed by organisations like Air Services Australia.
Essentially, Skykraft’s revolutionary service will mean that should an aircraft’s transponder be switched off, it would be monitored immediately. Rescuers could immediately start looking for the aircraft – and survivors – rather than days later.
Australia provides the ideal terrain for piloting Skykraft’s service. Air traffic to and from Australia covers large expanses of the ocean making it difficult to track aircraft from the ground. And domestically, Australian air traffic is heavy - the Brisbane/Sydney/Melbourne corridor is one of the top five busiest routes in the world.
“We’re thinking now about how to do a 1,000kg payload in three years’ time”
Skykraft plans to build a constellation of around 200 spacecraft over the next few years. Skykraft has already designed, built and tested five spacecraft, which are in the USA awaiting launch. These will be launched together as one package and then broken up seven days later. The five spacecraft in the first launch weigh a total of approximately 300kg, which will make it Australia’s largest ever spacecraft. And it’s larger than the entire mass of Australian-built spacecraft – ever.
But it doesn’t stop there. ‘What Skykraft is doing is a moment in history,’ said Dr Frater. ‘We’re thinking now about how to do a 1,000kg payload in three years.’
The satellites would be low earth orbit launched on the Starship rocket, which is part of SpaceX. Dr Frater mused that there is now almost one launch a week, with SpaceX being a game changer in terms of reducing the cost of launching into space.
And Skykraft is also revolutionising the space industry by manufacturing in new ways, bringing costs in line with customers' reasonable expectations. This means that space-based services can now be more competitive in performance and price compared to ground-based services.
Built in Canberra and regional Australia
All Skykraft’s satellites are designed and assembled in Canberra, with the software also written here. Skykraft employs 25 staff and expects to have 40 by the end of the year. ‘If you hear of anyone looking for a job,’ Dr Frater jokes, but recruitment is a serious issue with plans to expand to 200 staff in three years.
Last December, the company announced it had raised $3.5 million for its building and expansion, with investors including former CEO of Macquarie Group Allan Moss and Adcock Private Equity.
But it’s not just the national capital that benefits. Skykraft is also a good regional Australia story.
The metalwork for the satellites is done in Queanbeyan and Wodonga, and the printed circuit boards are populated in Newcastle. Who would have thought that Australia already has a space supply chain? Turns out that we do.
We look forward to the launch of Skykraft’s first satellites creating a monumental moment in the history of Australia and Canberra in space. Travel Well!
